Staff Reporter
Thomas Thabane has been forced to step down as prime minister of Lesotho following months of pressure.
He is expected to officially announce his resignation at 0900 hours Tuesday.
Former finance minister Moeketsi Majoro is set to be sworn in as Lesotho’s new prime minister at the royal palace on Wednesday.
Parliament is expected to reconvene on Friday, when the new government is expected to be inaugurated.
The 80-year-old Thabane lost his majority in parliament last week when the coalition backing him fell apart, but he had been clinging on in the desperate hope that a new pact with the opposition would see him remaining in office.
The State Council that advises the king of Lesotho – a tiny kingdom completely surrounded by South Africa – however pressured him to step down.
After giving in, Thabane today told supporters in his Ha Abia constituency on the outskirts of the capital Maseru that he had decided to “personally come and inform you that I am stepping down as prime minister of Lesotho”.
His ex-wife, Lipolelo, was shot and killed while driving home on June 14 2017, two days before Thabane was to be inaugurated as prime minister of Lesotho.
At the time, the two were going through a bitter divorce and had been living apart since 2012.
His current wife, with whom he was living at the time of the murder, was charged in connection with the killing in February.
Thabane was not formally charged at that time, with his lawyer arguing that his position as prime minister granted him immunity from prosecution.
The couple has denied any involvement.
